


sweeter than a sycamore tree

by tokyomew



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Kissing, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, angst????? a little????, cambion!jeno, jenos kinda ooc but whatever, nymph!renjun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 02:01:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16440896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tokyomew/pseuds/tokyomew
Summary: “We’re on?” he asks holding out his free hand for Renjun to shake.“Am I really making a deal with the devil right now?”“I’m a distant relative, but yes,” he smiles in a devilish way, looking demonically cute too.





	sweeter than a sycamore tree

**Author's Note:**

> PROMPT #40
> 
> hello!!
> 
> sorry if i strayed from the prompt, this kinda just... took off without my consent! regardless, i hope you enjoy it <3 
> 
> title taken from sycamore tree by kali uchis and is also completely unrelated!
> 
> unbeta-ed

Renjun’s trying his best—he really, truly, and honestly is. But there are just some things he can’t tolerate.

“Xiaojun,” he starts as he pulls away from the other boy, flushed and breathless for all the wrong reasons. “I like you and you’re fun to make out with and all, but you kinda taste like something that just washed up on the shore.”

Xiaojun gives him a puzzled look and frowns. A little of Renjun’s resolve crumbles, and it appears on his face, but he remains firm in his stance.

“But I _did_ just wash up on the shore. That’s why I’m here.” he explains, breath fanning over the other boys face. Renjun exhales shakily and nods in understanding. He knew that. How could he not when he had just tasted every species of barnacle he knew from those chapped lips? (He doesn’t blame him though—it’s hard to keep moisturized when surrounded by salt water. He takes it as a cultural difference.)

“I get that—I totally vibe with that, but you also reek of the ocean floor and I’m pretty sure there’s sand on my tongue now.” he says again and sticks out his tongue for good measure. The other boy takes a good look at it before shrugging. “Plus, I’m a spirit of the forest and you’re a creature of the sea. I just don’t think it’s meant to be.” He watches Xiaojun’s face as he takes this all in. Luckily, he doesn’t seem offended. He keeps a disappointed almost-grimace.

“Can we… keep kissing though?” Xiaojun tries optimistically. Renjun sighs in relief and smiles. It’s the least he could do for the crown prince who swam all the way to him for one blind date. So he sucks it up, holds his breath and dives back into the slobbery, fishy abyss. (He cuts the date short when he almost passes out in Xiaojun’s arms from lack of oxygen. Not that he’s complaining too much.)

\+ +

“When you said he would give me a taste of the ocean, that’s not really what I had in mind,” Renjun starts as he approaches the willow tree. “I was thinking a rich elven prince on a yacht, maybe?”

“How was it? Did you like him?” a cheery voice carries down from overhead. He looks to the treetops and sees Hyunjin with her legs dangling from a higher limb. “Didn’t I say he was cute?”

“Sure he was cute, but he reeked! Do you want to smell my breath right now? It tastes like a whale died in my mouth,” he complains loudly. “Can someone give me some peppermint leaves?” Hyunjin just rolls her eyes at him.

“It took so much convincing to get his stuck up father to allow this date to happen and you come back complaining. I almost got a trident through my foot! You’re so ungrateful, you brat,” she scolds before gracefully climbing down the ivy clinging to the trunk of the tree. She stands tall, towering over him. Her face pinches into a grimace when she gets close.

“God, you really do smell though. What did he do? Rub himself all over you?” Renjun opens his mouth to answer, but is stopped with a finger to his mouth.

“Leave out the fishy details. Maybe Xiaojun wasn’t the best match after all,” Hyunjin ponders. “Ever met a dragon before?”

“Give it a rest already. It’s my turn now!” Yerim calls as she emerges from a nurse log nearby. “Your stench woke me up, Junjun. Nice choice Hyunjin!” she teases.

“I got him a literal prince. I’d like to see you do better.”

Renjun just shakes his head. “It wasn’t worth it. It was like kissing an elder tree. I’m pretty sure I have a cut in my lip from how chapped his were.”

“So maybe I didn’t think the whole merman thing through! At least I didn’t set you up with the sphinx!”

“That was _one time_ ,” Renjun hears Jungeun say from within a nearby tree.

“That is so disgusting. I am so sorry, baby brother. You know what? I’ll set you up with the best I know! I’ve been saving this one,” Yerim exclaims, clapping her hands together.

“Great! I’m so excited,” he says blandly, not even trying to sound pleased. It’s not like it would make a difference anyways. He was used to being mixed and matched with different men like a hunk of meat.

As Yerim rambles Hyunjin’s ear off about Renjun’s next potential suitor, the latter slinks over to a bed of moss and slumps down. With one arm slung over his forehead to block the rays of sun that slipped through tree branches, he thinks about his love life and almost cringes at the direction it is inevitably headed due to the influence of his sisters.

Renjun loves his older sisters no matter how controlling or meddlesome they may be. He understands that it all comes from good intent. However, that doesn’t keep him from being unequivocally annoyed at them for their uninvited involvement in his love life.

It started when Renjun had reached the tender age of 16. The second the clock struck twelve that night, the seven nymphs had ran to his side and announced that they wanted to set him up with a boy. It wasn’t anything new, they were constantly setting each other up with men and women, but Renjun never thought his overprotective sisters would want their baby brother anywhere near another man. It was especially strange because they were often shooing away his many suitors. Apparently his species was seen as exotic.

“There’s only a handful of male wood nymphs in the world,” Sooyoung would often tell him. “You have to be careful around those who may only want to use you.” Which is why every date Renjun goes on is carefully and meticulously prepared by his sisters.

He supposes he should feel grateful, and maybe he would if not for the fact that he wasn’t adamant being in a relationship at all. Renjun is perfectly content being by himself. But he admits he would miss the constant physical affections from his blind dates. He was needy like that—all nymphs were.

“Hey! I found the dragon’s den if you wanna meet him still, Junnie!” He hears Hyunjin yell from back on her perch. He just sighs.

Renjun swings his legs over towards the side of the log facing away from his sister’s direction. “I’m going on a walk,” he says instead of responding to her. There’s no way he’s getting any rest or piece of mind around here.

“Be safe, brother!” Yerim and Hyunjin both say.

Renjun sets off on a familiar path. Only the sounds of the forest and the occasional squirrel accompany him. The sun is nearly set in the distance, sprinkling rays of deep orange through the leaves leaning over top Renjun’s path. The eminent darkness approaching doesn’t phase him—he knows the way like the back of his hand.

As soon as Renjun spots the snug, timbered cottage sitting all pure and untouched in the middle of the clearing, he feels relief. There are unnatural looking formations of smoke huffing out of the circular chimney and patches of grass around the clearing surrounding the structure are singed and… red? Renjun doesn’t mind it as he bounds towards the front door. He bursts into the house and hears a loud crash in the kitchen.

“Renjun, is that you?” a curious voice carries through the house.

“You already knew it was me,” he states as he follows the sound.

“That’s because no one else would dare barge into someone else’s home like a bloody barbarian without a proper knock or warning!”

There in the kitchen in front of a gas stove stirring a bubbling cauldron with a wooden spoon stands a boy Renjun’s age. His muted auburn hair spills out from underneath a sparkling witch hat, a similarly patterned robe is draped over his small frame. His back is turned to Renjun. There is a pile of broken glass on the tiled floor by his feet, likely there due to his barging in.

“That’s because no one else is me,” Renjun says proudly.

“You’re really lucky I tolerate you,” the boy says, turning around with a hand on his hip.

“I love you too, Donghyuck,” Renjun laughs as he takes a seat at a square dining table.

“So, what brings you to my hut? You caught me in the middle of making a growth serum—and before you ask, it’s for plants only.”

Renjun huffs, “I wasn’t going to ask. I’m perfectly pleased with my height, thank you very much. And after the last growth serum you made, I wouldn’t want it anyway.” Renjun gets a shiver run up his spine at the memory of his temporary blue skin and swollen feet. With his blond hair, he had looked like a Smurf.

“Just answer my question, shortie,” Donghyuck teases knowing very well he himself wasn’t much taller than the other boy.

“It’s my sisters again,” Renjun sighs. He rests his head in his arms on the table and groans.

“Was it another bad date? Did you do what I told you? Make out and talk later? And why the hell do you smell like that?” Donghyuck asks excitedly as he turns back to his concoction.

“To answer your questions: yes and yes. But it’s not about a date. Well, not technically. And don’t ask about the smell.” Donghyuck looks back at him to raise an eyebrow, obviously not following.

“I’m just getting fed up with all of them pushing me to get a boyfriend. Can’t they just leave me alone and let me find a boyfriend at my own pace?”

“That’s rough, friend.”

“I’m being serious! I know you’re super jealous that I get set up with cute boys all the time,” Donghyuck interrupts with a grunt. ”but I don’t know how to please my sisters and get them to stop bringing me boys I don’t like.”

“Maybe you should just get a boyfriend then,” Donghyuck says nonchalantly, as if the solution to all of Renjun’s turmoil had really been this simple the entire time. The latter sits up and gapes.

“What do you mean?”

“Just bring home a boy. That’ll certainly shut them up. All they want is for you to not be alone,” he explains while adding another drop of red liquid to his cauldron. The viscus concoction fizzes at the addition and gradually gets thinner as he stirs.

“But I don’t want a boyfriend at all. And besides, where am I gonna get a boyfriend?”

“You have suitors lining up for miles, don’t be humble _now_. What you need to do is find a decent one and take him home. Your sisters can’t set you up on blind dates if you’re already dating someone.”

“Those boys are all greasy! And I _really_ don’t want a boyfriend,” Renjun repeats. Donghyuck looks at him to roll his eyes.

“Then get a fake one.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I have one,” he shrugs nonchalantly. “Do you remember my cat familiar I adopted a few months ago? Turns out he’s an ailuran.”

“Lucas?” Renjun asks incredulously and Donghyuck nods. “Wait—is he hot?” Donghyuck nods again, a bit more enthusiastically, a small smile creeping onto his face.

“I knew my older brother would clown me for months if he knew I was single and living like a literal hermit out here. So me and Lucas thought up a little story and once Johnny stepped into my home we were in a happily committed relationship. That’s all it took to get him off my back. Sometimes I ask Lucas to hang out in the background when I’m contacting Johnny for an added effect.”

“Is he… here?” Renjun implores shyly. Instead of responding, Donghyuck raises his unoccupied hand to his mouth and whistles. The sound of tapping on the floor echos towards them and soon a black cat is bounding into Donghyuck’s quaint kitchen space, leaping straight onto the countertop next to Donghyuck and purring happily.

“Never seen a cat respond to a whistle before,” Renjun laughs.

“You’ve met kitty Lucas before, but now… get ready for… human Lucas!” Donghyuck announces in his TV voice. His arms are even spread to direct attention towards the cat like a game show host. The three of them just stay there silent for a few moments, all waiting for something to happen.

“Lucas,” Donghyuck mumbles and pinches the cat’s ear. It gazes at him with its round brown eyes. “That’s your cue.” The cat meows loudly. It’s a deeper pitch than Renjun was expecting. Nothing happens after that either.

“Are you sure he’s an ailuran? Are you toying with me?” Renjun asks chuckling.

“Luuuucas,” Donghyuck whines. The cat meows a few more times.

“It’s okay, it’s just Renjun! He’s not trying to skin you and eat you alive, I told you those hunters were a myth. Were you watching conspiracy videos again?” Donghyuck argues and Lucas simply sits there. Renjun’s giggling is full on laughter now. It was silly watching his friend talk to a cat, even if he had seen and possibly done stranger.

“Just do it, you’re going to make me look like an idiot!”

“Too late for that, Donghyuck.”

Just then, Lucas the cat disappears in a cloud of smoke. It’s thick and fills the small space quickly. Renjun fans the air around his own face and hears Donghyuck groan again when he realizes it had set off the smoke detector.

“We didn’t think that one through,” a deep voice observes giggling. The smoke gradually gets more wispy and Renjun squints through it to see a very large, very naked man sitting on the countertop where the cat was once sitting. His grin is all teeth, wide and cheshire-like.

“Oh my god! Get some clothes on before you taint my kitchen!” Donghyuck yells, throwing the wooden spoon at Lucas.

“Oh, so you don’t mind when I’m furry, but you throw utensils at me when I’m in my true form?”

“Renjun, I am so sorry,” Donghyuck directs at him, ignoring the pouting ailuran. “We really did not think that one through at all.” Lucas hops down from the counter and back through the door frame to get dressed. Renjun watches him as he leaves.

“What the hell—he’s hot? He’s a fucking cat,” Renjun whispers to Donghyuck who just laughs.

“I know, I was shocked too.”

“And he was just all the way on board with the whole fake dating thing?”

“To be fair, I house and feed the little menace.”

“Okay, so you had leverage on him. How am I going to convince a random guy to do the same for me?”

“So you want to go through with it?! And you know that I hate when you use logic to think things through!” Donghyuck groans. He finally turns back to his potion and sighs when he realizes his wooden spoon was now dirtied on the kitchen floor.

“Wait!” Donghyuck announces suddenly. Renjun nearly yelps at the startling sound. “I can just set you up with one of my customers! I already have the perfect person in mind.” Renjun gives him a skeptical look. Although he trusts Donghyuck with his life and more, he’s already had enough bad blind dates to last a lifetime.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am! Listen, just come back tomorrow morning. He’ll be here to pick up a potion.” Donghyuck claps his hands as he says it. Renjun tries a smile at his friend and thanks him. He leaves the hut and walks back home under the glow of the moonlight thinking “ _What have I gotten himself into?”_

At dawn he’s at the cottage again. It’s much too early to be barging right into people’s homes and Renjun will respect that. So he raps his knuckles against the slightly splintered wood of the door. Lucas is the one to greet him. Luckily he’s wearing clothes this time—a set of fuzzy pajamas spotted with a series of cartoon cats. Renjun thinks they resemble him as a cat and chuckles at the sight of Lucas wearing them with his tired, half opened eyes and bed head.

“What’s so funny, shortie?” he threatens groggily, obviously bothered by being awoken so early. Renjun stops laughing to glare. He pushes his way into the cottage and out of the crisp morning air nipping at his nose. He makes his way to Donghyuck’s kitchen, the place where he feels coziest and sits at the table as Lucas shuffles sleepily back towards Donghyuck’s bedroom. Renjun will definitely ask about that later.

The sunrise creeps through Donghyuck’s curtains. It reflects off all of the different colored glass bottles lined up on his wall and then off of them into the rest of the room, casting a rainbow of colors onto whatever it can reach. Bottles of all different shapes and sizes look as if they were just thrown haphazardly onto the shelves, but knowing his friend, they were all likely placed an intricate organization system only a madman like Donghyuck would understand.

He knows for a fact Donghyuck wouldn’t ever wake up earlier than 11AM without some prompting and perhaps a promise of free breakfast. Renjun, on the other hand, is a morning person. It could be attributed to his identity as a wood nymph, but he often woke up before sunrise to watch the rest of the forest wake up. The soft chirping of baby birds in nests, the fluttering of a butterfly’s first flight out of its cocoon, the rustle of leaves being touched by a gentle morning breeze as it washes away the night—they were all things he would miss if he didn’t wake early.

Morning is different in Donghyuck’s house. It’s the scattering of a mouse’s retreat into his hole in the wall to avoid the sun chasing his tail, or the drip of his leaking kitchen faucet. Still, it is morning, and to Renjun, that is tranquil.

Before long, he finds himself resting his eyes and drifting off with his head in his arms. He is startled awake by a pounding on the door. He watches Lucas reappear in his pjs and stumble towards the door. The ailuran doesn’t even bother looking at the guest and turns straight around, retreating back to bed.

A stranger steps into view then. Renjun feels goosebumps rise at the sight of the other boy. He’s adorned with all black, from his tall combat boots to his leather jacket and slicked-back hair. A single strand of it rests over a sturdy forehead, which connects to a tall, straight nose, in between dark eyes. He is wickedly handsome, drawing out Renjun’s intrigue as well as his intimidation. Renjun feels himself blushing just looking at him and his chiseled profile. His heart nearly stops when the stranger turns to look him in the eyes.

“You’re not Donghyuck,” his voice breaks through the tranquility of the morning, low and scorning.

“I’m not,” he states simply. He reasons that the boy must be one of his many customers. Donghyuck was known all around the realm as one of the finest apothecaries. Renjun knew this firsthand, having befriended him through picking up potions for his sisters often.

“Is he here?” the boy asks, running a hand over his hair. Renjun tries not to look into his eyes. They were beautiful, but entrancing in all the wrong ways.

“He’s sleeping. Who are you?” Although he’s skeptical, the nymph figures it couldn’t hurt to find out his identity considering Lucas had just let him in without a word. It still wasn’t enough to keep the dark energy emanating off the unknown boy from making Renjun’s skin prick.

He quirks a corner of his mouth at him. “No one you need to worry about, sweetheart.” The forwardness shocks him. A crash in the direction of the bedroom shocks him further. The other boy seems unaffected by the disturbance.

“Why didn’t you wake me up, you oaf?” Renjun hears Donghyuck curse before appearing in the kitchen. His hair’s in a nest on his head and he’s wearing a set of pajamas matching Lucas’s

“Hi. Sorry,” the witch huffs while he meanders towards the shelf of bottles. “Renjun, meet Jeno. Jeno, meet Renjun.”

“A pleasure,” Jeno chimes in. Renjun just frowns at him.

Donghyuck grabs a standard milk bottle filled with a cherry red liquid sloshing around in it. “Ah-hah!”

Jeno makes his way towards him and extends a hand towards the bottle, meaning to take it. Just as his fingers brush against the glass, Donghyuck pulls it back into his chest.

“Hold on! I’m not gonna make you pay for this one,” Donghyuck starts. Jeno wears a surprised, yet pleased face.

“Well, by all means,” he says before making another attempt at the bottle.

“But! You have to do a favor for my friend Renjun in exchange.” Donghyuck gestures to him accordingly.

Renjun stands abruptly from his chair, causing it to wobble behind him. “Wait—him? This is who you meant?”

“Jeno’s a cambion! Wouldn’t that be perfect?” The statement puts Renjun into momentary state of shock. He stares wide eyed at his friend.

“How is that perfect at all?”

“Won’t your sisters be so mad?” Donghyuck asks giggling.

“Is that what you think I want?”

“They’ll definitely be off your case if you brought _him_ home.” Donghyuck shrugs. He’s bewildered as to why the witch was pushing so hard.

Jeno finally steps in, hands held in the air. “Does anyone care to fill me in on what’s being discussed right now?” Donghyuck exchanges looks with the both of them.

“Renjun needs a boyfriend to bring home to his seven nymph sisters.”

“A _fake_ boyfriend,” Renjun adds quickly.

“And… I’m assuming that’s where I come in?” Jeno questions with a raised brow.

“I knew you would catch on,” Donghyuck praises. “So are you up to it?”

“If it gets me my potion, why not?”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Renjun interjects. “Like—I’m still not on board with him.”

“If Jeno’s willing then I don’t see why you can’t take him.”

“Because you just told me he’s the son of a demon!” He sees Jeno’s expression shift to something a little darker from the corner of his eye.

“First of all, very rude,” Jeno directs towards him with a faux frown. “Second of all, how long would you need me for?”

“Probably a few weeks,” Donghyuck answers for him. Renjun just shakes his head at Donghyuck. He wasn’t even keen on going along with the plan of bringing home a boy in the first place and now negotiations were being made right in front of him without his consent.

“And you would be providing me with potions for this entire time span?” Renjun’s jaw drops.

Donghyuck drags out a sigh and relents. “Fine. Sure. For as long as Renjun needs you.”

“Who said I needed him?!”

“You _do_ need him!”

“I don’t need _him_ ,” Renjun emphasizes, hands making motions at Jeno. The boy looks stuck between dashing out the front door, never to return and bursting out into laughter. He decides on neither.

“Listen, Renjun, is it?” He doesn’t pause for Renjun to answer. “I only came by for my potion. So if you insist on not going through with this arrangement I’m still not even sure I understand, I’ll just be on my merry way.” As he drones on, he walks over to Donghyuck, effectively slips the bottle into his own hands and nods at Renjun in the most condescending way he’s ever seen. He then turns on his heel to walk out the door. The three are left standing there staring at the front door as if in a trance.

“Hey! He just left without paying! Renjun go get him!” Donghyuck shouts. He pushes him towards the door. Lucas appears out of thin air and, ignoring Renjun’s protests, opens it to help.

“What? Why me?” He doesn’t get an answer. Instead, he gets a shove and a door shut on him.

The sun is out now, birds chirping happily and wind brushing through the trees. In the distance he can still see Jeno, his presence and outfit a stark contrast to the surrounding nature. He can even spot the bright red bottle in his hand. Luckily, he seems to be a slow walker. Renjun jogs and catches up to him in no time.

“Jeno!” he calls. The boy turns back to look at Renjun who is still a couple feet behind him, but keeps his pace.

“Did you change your mind?”

“Can you just hold on?” he asks instead of answering. Renjun heaves behind him, ready to just call it a day and wall at a leisurely pace back to the cottage so he can apologize to Donghyuck about his potion. Jeno stops abruptly, causing Renjun to run into his back.

“What is it?” he asks once Renjun has effectively gotten flustered and stepped back to give him room to turn around and face him.

“The potion,” he points out. “You didn’t pay.”

“Oh! Silly me! My bad!” Jeno laughs. Renjun cringes at the obvious sarcasm. His laughter fades to him smiling with the right side of his mouth, looking terribly condescending. Renjun takes a deep breath and wills himself to not blow a fuse.

He tries to reason with him. “Listen, Donghyuck works really hard on those. Can’t you just go back and pay for it?”

“I know he does, I’ve been purchasing from him for years.” Renjun processes his words slowly.

“You’re saying you’ve built a relationship with him as a customer and you’re still gonna steal that? You really think it’s worth it?”

“I’m saying a deal was proposed to me about receiving this bottle without an exchange of currency, and I accepted it. You did not. Not my problem,” he explains and starts turning away again.

His words sink into Renjun’s brain and they don’t even stick.

“That doesn’t even make sense!”

“If you want me to give up my side of the deal, I’m more than willing. That’s up to you to decide whether you want me to do it though.” Renjun runs a frustrated hand through his blonde locks.

“Do you want to fake date me that bad? You don’t even know me.”

He couldn’t understand why Jeno was so adamant on going through with this.

“What I want are my potions,” he says as he holds up his prize. The red is mocking, even brighter in the direct sunlight. Renjun sighs deeply. On one hand, he could let the obnoxious (literal) spawn of evil walk away with the one potion and be done with it, but that would mean he would be losing a potential candidate for bringing home to his sisters no matter how annoying he was. On the other hand, he could accept the deal Donghyuck had proposed and start fake dating him within the next few hours even.

Weighing out his options, he really sees no other way.

“Okay,” he says finally. Jeno’s about four yards ahead now, but he turns around almost instantly.

“We’re on?” he asks holding out his free hand for Renjun to shake.

“Am I really making a deal with the devil right now?”

“I’m a distant relative, but yes,” he smiles in a devilish way, looking demonically cute too. Renjun is absolutely certain he should be fearing the pleased look on the cambion’s face. Regardless, he takes the other boy’s hand and gives him a firm shake, but not before gasping at how cold to the touch he was still. Renjun starts to wonder if all cambions were this cold.

“Great. What do I need to do?” Jeno asks brightly, his entire demeanor seeming to have changed. Renjun shivers at how drastic the shift was.

“You need to convince my seven sisters that we are in a committed relationship,” he deadpans. Jeno just laughs at him.

“That’s it?” he asks as if there was no easier task in the world. He had obviously never met a nymph.

“It’ll be harder than you think! It seriously won’t work unless we are the most believable and in-love couple on the planet. My sisters can look through me like a spyglass,” Renjun explains nervously.

“You seem to have very little faith in me,” Jeno smirks.

“Of course. I hardly even know you. And you’re a demon,” Renjun retorts.

“ _Half_ -demon,” he corrects suavely. As if there’s any difference to the shorter.

“Whatever. The fact that you have any demon in you is already a massive red flag for me. So, I’ve been thinking about creating a few simple guidelines for us.”

“Guidelines? I think we’ve both established that I don’t play by the rules,” he laughs.

“Then can we at least do this for my own peace of mind? You’ll get your potions.”

“Fine,” he grumbles.

“Great! First thing’s first, you have to be nice to my sisters.” Renjun isn’t entirely sure of a cambion’s capabilities, only really knowing they’re the offspring of a demon and a human. He’s fairly certain Jeno must have some demon exclusive abilities. But whether it be possessing another person’s body and eating away at their lifeforce or wicked persuasion, he doesn’t want himself or one of his sisters to face it.

“Nice?”

“They can be a little...” Renjun pauses while trying to find the right words to explain his sisters’ attitudes towards creatures of darkness. “They can be a little discriminatory towards…”

“My kind?” Jeno offers with a knowing look. Renjun’s heart falls knowing what kind of impression he must be giving him. He didn’t want himself or his sisters to be associated with speciesism.

“I mean it’s nothing against you at all. I mean it is. But I mean—"

“I had an idea of what it would be like from what Donghyuck said about making your sisters mad. It’s okay Renjun, I’ve been through it all before.” Renjun frowns at that. He has an idea of what it must be like for Jeno. He’s witnessed first hand how cruel his sisters could be towards different races and creatures they saw as unnatural or wrong. Renjun had never agreed with their actions and prejudices against others, but he’s also never argued with them about it either.

“I’m just giving you a fair warning ahead of time. Just do your thing and try not to piss them off too much. Now, rule two.” Before continuing he breaks eye contact with Jeno, suddenly feeling warm.

“You’re not allowed to initiate contact unless I say so,” he mumbles.

“What?” Jeno asks incredulously. “Are you a prude or something?” Renjun thinks back to the make out session he had with Xiaojun just an hour after meeting him and gasps, feeling offended.

“Of course not! I just don’t want you getting any funny ideas about our little game of house. You’re the spawn of a succubus!”

“God, this again,” Jeno sighs and throws his hands up from where they were tucked into his pant pockets. “How do you expect us to be a believable, in-love couple if we aren’t doing things couples do?”

“For your information, I know of some very respectable people in relationships who aren’t sucking face every second of every day. It’s not like they’ll make me kiss you in front of them.” He gets chills just imagining it.

“So you _are_ a prude.” Jeno fails to bite back a snicker.

“No—will you just agree to this so we can move on?” Renjun holds out an awaiting hand for him to shake on.

“Fine!” he relents, taking Renjun’s hand and giving a firm tug up and down before releasing it from his cold grasp. “I agree. Is that all?”

Renjun beams at him while he rolls his eyes. “Yes. Great. Meet me back here the same time tomorrow for our first date!”

\+ +

Honestly speaking, Renjun should’ve known better. Not only had he thrown some less than ideal liabilities of which he forced Jeno to oblige to, he had also left straight after telling Jeno to come back without receiving confirmation that he would show. He had no reason to—he had gotten his potion and was last seen happily on his way back to his Hell hole.

The nymph slumps down, lying with his back flat against the slightly damp grass. He had been standing on the edges of the clearing of Donghyuck’s cottage for an hour past their scheduled meeting time. Usually he welcomes the warm sun on his face, but today he feels irked, if not from being stood up then from his sister’s getting on his case about going out on a weekend.

Renjun had asked Yerim early that morning to fetch him a handful of the freshest Spring blossoms to adorn his hair with. When asked why, he tells her it was because he was excited for the Spring flowers and convinces himself of that as well. He was raised better than to want to look good for a cambion.

Crocus of purple, white, and yellow rest on the crown of his head with bloodroots scattered throughout. His eyes flutter shut. The flowers and he bask in the golden sunlight, soaking in the rays and gaining energy. He’s just starting to feel better when something obstructs the light above him. He thinks it might just be a cloud and doesn’t mind it, waiting for it to pass. When it doesn’t he grows suspicious. His eyes batter open, adjusting to the light and he startles at what stares back at him. Jeno’s stern eyes pierce his as he stands over him.

Renjun scrambles to stand, brushing dirt off the back of his white tunic. “I didn’t think you would come.”

“We had a deal, didn’t we?” Jeno reminds. Renjun smiles at the notion. And frowns straight after when Jeno opens his mouth again. “Needed to make sure I get my potions for free.”

“Say… What are those potions for anyway?” Renjun had never seen such a vividly red potion before. Not like he knew what half the potions Donghyuck concocted did anyway, but it wouldn’t hurt to know if Jeno’s potion might be a transfiguration keeping him from turning back into a raging beast or something.

“That’s for me to know and you to not find out,” he muses. He grins at Renjun like he has a secret that he will never know. And he does. So much for finding out if he’s a rabid beast.

“Right. Well, I planned out a few things for today,” Renjun says, changing the topic. Jeno looks at him with intrigue, urging him to go on. “I was thinking we could go to the town plaza. You know, the marketplace?”

Renjun’s forest was just outside of a quaint town whose population consisted of humans as well as a multitude of other creatures. The mundanes were well adjusted to living with other species and welcomed them. The town was a place where anyone could live. In the center of town was the fountain. It was grand and completely made of marble. During the day it served as a place for people to gather around and explore the booths that were set up in the early mornings. At night, the booths are replaced with even more and the lights in the fountain are switched on, creating spouts of colored water that sparkles in the surrounding light of the street lamps.

Saturdays were Renjun’s favorite day to visit the market. The weekend brought out the best kiosks, some of which were run by friends.

Jeno picks at his painted black nails in disinterest. “Sure.”

“Okay,” Renjun mutters dejectedly. He was hopeful for a more enthused reaction. “Let’s go.”

They cross the clearing, Renjun doing most of the leading since he knew the forest best. They bask in the sounds of the forest as they go, not another word uttered since they first started moving. Just the soft crunch of the duff underfoot and various critters scampering about to keep their ears company. It’s halfway to awkward and if he’s being honest, Renjun isn’t so much worried about his overt consciousness of the cambion’s presence than just outright forgetting he’s there all together. The only reminder of the other boy’s company is his leisurely pace of walking. Renjun curses his own legs for being shorter than Jeno’s and how he has to maintain a slightly quicker pace than usual to make sure he’s the one in front.

Renjun jumps at the sound of Jeno suddenly clearing his throat loudly. He slows to a stop and turns to face the other boy. A raise of his eyebrows prompts him to talk.

“Remind me why we have to go on a date if this isn’t real,” Jeno demands with arms crossed cooly over his chest. Renjun takes the time to notice that he’s clad in all black once again, the same leather jacket as yesterday making an appearance over a band tee Renjun’s never heard of and ripped jeans.

“Well, we shouldn’t be complete strangers if we want to pull this off,” Renjun explains. He doesn’t wait up for Jeno as he continues on treading through the greenery.

“I suppose,” he agrees, which shocks Renjun for a moment. “But it’s kind of unnecessary.”

“Just suck it up and hang out a little, alright?” Renjun prods gently, stuck between wanting to convince Jeno that this is worthwhile and also not angering him.

“Just don’t waste my time,” Jeno orders before walking past Renjun leaving no room for argument. The latter doesn’t attempt to mask his hurt—there was no need when Jeno wasn’t looking. He trails along after him.

They reach the town in ten long minutes attributed to Jeno leading and not necessarily knowing where he was going. As soon as Renjun steps into the town though, he really does forget Jeno is there.

The lanterns along the main road are tangled in flowery garland and the roads themselves are lined with petals and leaves. Children run about and adults all walk about with ease. It fills Renjun with glee just knowing the center of town would be even more bustling and jolly.

Without thinking, he reaches back and makes a grab for one of Jeno’s hands impatiently. “Let’s go!” He drags him around as he rushes to get to the plaza. The intertwining of warm and cold fingers just almost distracts him from his excitement. Almost.

The sight is enough to make even a disinterested spoilsport like Jeno widen his eyes and give a low whistle.

The fountain spouts water meters high into the air and all around. Jeno realizes it must be enchanted and gives his nod of approval. There are children chasing each other around the fountain and several couples sitting around it. Passersby stop to watch the waterworks in awe.

“Oh, sorry,” Renjun squeaks when he realizes their hands are interlocked. He pulls his hand away from the other boy’s as if he was electrocuted, Jeno’s expression unreadable as he does it.

“We might as well be getting used to it,” Jeno says surprising him. The cambion reaches out and takes his hand again, Renjun’s fitting with his like it was meant to be there. Renjun bites back an oncoming blush and looks away to distract himself. He forgets his own rules of the arrangement entirely.

“Let’s go look at the shops,” he suggests and pulls them both towards the aisle of bustling booths and stalls set up.

There isn’t even two inches of personal space available to the two boys. They shove and are shoved around by the dozens of customers along with the merchants who holler over each other to attract more buyers. Although it’s a bit of sensory overload, Renjun can’t help but feel giddy over just being there amongst the commotion. It wasn’t often he was able to venture into crowded places. If his sisters ever caught word that he was at the plaza, they would all have a collective fit and scold him. He wasn’t quite bold enough to sneak off and go on his own, but today he was with Jeno, and he was confident that what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

Amid the chaos, Renjun is now acutely aware of his hand and how it was currently enveloped by Jeno’s. He’s visibly less flustered, but the same can’t be said for his heart, which he can now feel beating rapidly down to the tips of his fingers. He hopes Jeno and his heightened demon senses (if he had those) can’t feel it too.

He isn’t one to flaunt, but he had held many hands before. Men who courted him through his sisters often treated him with tender care and were heart flatteringly warm. Jeno was nowhere near that in holding his hand, but it affected his pulse like no other.

“Pretty boy! You there, with the flowers!” Renjun makes out over the noise. He turns his head towards the sound and sees a man in a smaller booth. In closer inspection, the man is selling various pieces of handmade jewelry. Flowers encased in glass are looped onto twine for necklaces and woven for bracelets.

“Come take a closer look,” the man encourages, taking immediate notice of Renjun’s intrigue. So he complies and tugs Jeno along as well. Renjun lets go of Jeno’s hand and feels instant relief as well as a part of him that’s longing, but he lets the goods before him entertain his thoughts instead.

His hands immediately gravitate towards one of the bracelets. Suspended in three glass beads are cherry blossoms, a flower Renjun doesn’t get to see often in his forest.

“How much are they?” he asks while holding the bracelet to his wrist and observing the beads in every angle in the sun.

“Fifteen,” the man answers before smiling. “But for the pretty flower boy, I’ll say twelve.” Renjun flushes at his words. He uses his free hand to dig around in his pocket, only to find that it’s empty. He curses, realizing he must have left his money at the tree.

“Are you the boyfriend?” he directs towards Jeno who’s standing quietly beside him, looking uninterested as always. His eyebrow is quirked and nods once. Renjun’s heart flutters at his immediate confirmation of the assumption. He’s never had someone call themselves his boyfriend before. “You make a lovely couple! Shouldn’t you buy your boyfriend a bracelet to match his lovely face?”

Renjun looks to Jeno and watches his face as he considers this. It’s not like he is necessarily eager about the purchase of this bracelet, he’s just interested in how the situation was going to play out. Jeno seems to feel his gaze and he smiles his usual haughty smile towards the man.

“He’s plenty lovely without it,” he jests. Even knowing he didn’t mean it, Renjun flushes again.

“C’mon! He looks like he wants it. Alright,” he says, lowering his voice just slightly. “Since you are so beautiful and the boyfriend’s being difficult, I’ll sell it for just ten.” He fiddles with the bracelet in his hands. Renjun’s taken by the offer, but he’s certain Jeno wouldn’t spend a cent on him, not when he’s only known him for 24 hours and talked to him a total of twice. And based on the lengths he’s willing to go to get his potions from Donghyuck for free, he seems frugal.

He’s about to put the bracelet back and apologize to the seller for refusing the offer. However, Jeno takes Renjun by surprise.

“How about five?” he suggests, voice suddenly filled with sweetness and charm, but Renjun knows almost immediately that it’s disingenuous. Renjun looks between him and the merchant in awe. Jeno smiles brightly at the man, eyes disappearing into happy crescents. The sight is lovely to the eye, but somehow heavy on the heart. Renjun forces himself to look away from the smile and instead focuses on the reaction of the man.

The haggle is a third of the original price. Renjun can tell by the man’s confidence and the way he speaks that he was a seasoned seller here. Renjun thinks he wouldn’t take that offer in a million years—he would have to be a madman. But today is already chock full of unexpected happenings and now was no exception.

The man peers deeply into Jeno’s eyes and nods robotically. Jeno slaps a couple bills into his readily outstretched hand and turns to Renjun. Taking the bracelet from him, he starts shimmying it onto Renjun’s thin wrist.

“Pretty, right?” he asks with a quick glance at Renjun.

Renjun’s more distracted by the glazed look in the vendor’s eyes to be flustered over the contact with Jeno. “How did you do that?”

“A demon never tells his secrets,” he evades. Through his intuition, Renjun knows it must have been his power of wicked persuasion. How he executed it though, Renjun had no clue. But he figures he had to find out soon before he was on the receiving end.

They continue moving along with the stream of people down the stretch of stalls. The crowd thins as they get further and further from the fountain, as do the merchants and the noise. Soon, there’s only a few people scattered around them. Even without the fear of being separated, their hands remain tight in one another’s. Renjun can’t tell if his hand is getting colder or if Jeno’s is warming up—either way, the temperature difference between them is slowly diminishing. It distracts him enough that he barely even bothers wondering where the other boy was dragging him to.

Jeno stops at a tavern. The sign on the door reads open even though it’s still early. Renjun looks at him in silent questioning. There was no way he expected him to go into this bar and have a few drinks with him, was there?

“Stay here, I’m going to the bathroom. Won’t be long,” Jeno informs briefly before swinging the door open and waltzing in. It’s now apparent why he was in such a rush. He sighs in relief.

The nymph leans against the brick of the building and stares at the bracelet adorning his wrist. It’s actually quite plain when it comes down to it. The beads with the flowers aren’t anything hard to come by, but Renjun thinks he’ll cherish the item for a long while.

He’s thinking about how he can find cherry blossoms when he hears the door of the tavern squeak open beside him. Renjun straightens up and turns to face Jeno and realizes it isn’t Jeno at all. He’s greeted by a group of three men, all gruff looking and much larger than him. They’re rowdy, all shouting over one another and laughing, just barely noticing his presence. Renjun shrinks onto himself when they do take notice of him.

“Lookie here, fellas,” one of them laughs heartily. Three sets of beady, glazed over eyes bring their attention towards Renjun. He cowers even more under the attention.

“Never seen a boy like you before,” he says, leaning closer to take a closer look at Renjun. The nymph’s head falls. He averts his gaze to his bare feet against the pavement.

“Got pointy ears… Just like one of them nymphs do!” another one exclaims as if he’d just won the lottery. “A male one? You won’t be able to find that anywhere else.”

“You don’t say,” the last one says before turning his attention back to the quivering boy in front of them.

Renjun had dealt with this before. He was younger then, clinging to the hand of his eldest sister, Kahei, like a lifeline before being told he had to stay put for a moment while she attended business.

She had retreated into a nearby building surrounding the plaza to use their bathroom after having someone spill their beverage all over her.

“Stay right here and don’t talk to anybody,” she had warned before leaving him. He had made it exactly two minutes alone before two burly looking men approached him.

“Look at this one,” one of them had said to the other. “Ain’t he pretty?”

“Certainly a prize,” the other had agreed gruffly. Renjun had kept his head down, brows furrowed in fear. They leaned in closer to him to try and get a better look at his face.

“What’cha frowning for, beautiful?”

“Let us get a look at that pretty face,” they coaxed. Renjun felt immense shame; his face grew hotter by the second; tears threatened to form.

“Hey, hey. I think this boy’s a nymph!” He heard one of the men observe, bellowing voice lowered to a mutter. “Male nymphs are mighty pricey on the market.” His blood ran cold at the words. Sooyoung’s words about bad people wanting to use him had rung in his head.

“You out here alone, little nymph?” they teased, one of them even got so brave as to reach out and forcefully take Renjun’s chin in one of his rough hands.

“He really is a cute one isn’t he?” he had said while turning his head back and forth in his hand, Renjun being completely shaken in fear at the threatening faces of the men to make any movements. He had caught glimpses of knives in the hoister of their belts and the scars on their faces. He feared for his safety.

It was just his luck that Kahei had come out just then. She saw the men with Renjun and had immediately drawn her blade, waving it around at the men before they decided it wasn’t worth it to cause a scene and fled. But being saved wasn’t quite enough to make him feel safe. The faces and voices of the men were still recurring in his nightmares. Even now, they played in his mind instead of the words of the different men in front of him. It was all the same though.

His breathing escalates and his pulse heightens. The men are closing in on him slowly, and now his back lies flat against the brick of the building. He musters his best blank look of disinterest in an attempt to not inform the men of his panic. Renjun doesn’t allow his eyes to reach the eyes of the men, instead looking past their shoulders out into the crowds of people just behind them. He silently pleads that someone, _anyone_ notice what’s happening. They’re a world away.

Just like when he was younger, one of the three reaches out with his stubby hands and places it along Renjun’s jaw, forcing him to face them. The man’s eyes are a muddy brown and his breath reeks of alcohol at only nine in the morning. Renjun quivers.

“You wanna come home with us, beautiful? We’ll treat you real nice,“ he cooes. Renjun musters a look of calm distaste, still refusing to answer. He almost feels the other man’s patience wear thin.

“What is going on here?“ Renjun swears he’s never been happier to hear the voice of a demon in his life. The rough hand on his face is forcibly removed and soon after, all he can see is a view of Jeno’s leather clad back blocking him from anything else. It’s broad and he wants nothing more than to reach his arms around him and shield himself from the world.

“That’s none of your business, is it, punk?” the middle man threatens.

“If it has to do with him, then I think it very much involves me,” Jeno spits.

“Why don’t you let pretty boy speak for himself?” one of the men suggests sardonically. Renjun stops himself from scoffing.

“This pretty boy happens to belong to me, and I intend on keeping it that way. We’ll be leaving now,” Jeno says as he takes his hand and pulls him away from the area.

“I guess I can’t even leave you for a second, huh?” Jeno asks sneeringly, but still he pulls Renjun in closer with a hand and slings an arm around his shoulder. Their sides are pressed against each other, Renjun’s warmth and Jeno’s coolness melding into neutrality between them.

It was just like them as individual entities—on completely opposite ends of a spectrum, but coming together to form something completely their own. It’s comfortable.

He spends the rest of the afternoon tucked under Jeno’s arm, and although he’s more aggressive about the action than the nymph is used to, he can’t help but feel safer with him so close. Where Renjun usually has soft and careful, Jeno brings hard edges and reckless abandon. While it is drastically different, he can’t help but gravitate towards the other boy like a planet orbiting black hole.

Renjun fears for the future, for when he drifts a little too close, for when he inevitably gets sucked in without hope of escaping. He fears what could become of their relationship later on if this is how strongly he felt about the boy after just meeting him.

He pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind.

\+ +

After their first “date” they had gone their separate ways, Jeno walking Renjun to the edge of the forest and the latter sending him off with a smile and another word of gratitude. They made plans for Jeno to meet his sisters as soon as possible, settling on a time on an evening two days from their date.

Today, Jeno is in the forest again, this time he looks more cleaned up than his usual punk rocker aesthetics.

A silk black dress shirt replaces the band tee, but the ripped jeans and leather jacket are worn as usual. He’s popped the first couple of buttons on his shirt and his hair is pushed back just messily enough to look effortless. Basically, he looks delectable. But Renjun has bigger fish to fry.

The nymph wrings his hands nervously as he walks, a habit he’s grown with.

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea after all. I’ve never done this before. Is it obvious I’m nervous? Do you think they’re gonna figure us out? What if they kill you? Oh my god, what if they kill you? I’ve never done this. They’re going to be so angry,” he rambles. Jeno gives him an amused look from beside him.

“I think I can handle myself,” he says, but Renjun barely hears him over his own thoughts.

“They are literally going to skin you alive. They will hang you by your toes over our door like an ornament. Oh my god,” he rants. “This is such a bad idea, they’re gonna keep me locked up forever if they find out I’m lying. They will glue me to the ground and plant trees around me and leave me there until they grow and I’ll be stuck there for all eternity.” Jeno laughs at the mental image.

“Please don’t laugh, I am so terrified,” Renjun whines. Despite the request, his laughing doesn’t cease.

“You just need to chill out,” Jeno suggests. Renjun almost laughs along with Jeno at this. How fitting it was how Jeno was telling him to chill out when he obviously didn’t know how hard that was to achieve if you weren’t cold blooded to begin with.

“I can’t chill out. I’m panicking! I will do the exact opposite. My body is going to overheat!” he cries. He takes a shaky breath in an attempt to pull it together. It doesn’t do much but make him seem even more shaken.

Jeno stops walking, and Renjun halts as well.

“Is something wrong? Oh god, you don’t want to do it. I knew I made a bad decision. Even a cambion doesn’t want to lie to my sisters—I’m going to Hell, aren’t I?”

It’s an irrational fear—being banished to the Underworld after death. People knew things about the Underworld. People above were _from_ the Underworld. It didn’t keep them from being irrevocably squeamish about the place. Renjun was no exception. Through violent and agonizing tales about the unknown in the form of verbal words from his sisters, he had accumulated his own opinions on there. They were far from homey and pleasant.

“I can assure you that you are not going to Hell, even if you wanted to,” Jeno retorts cooly. He gives Renjun a once over and the nymph flushes under his stare. “You’re not exactly cut out for living down there.” His tone is rather condescending, but Renjun doesn’t feel offended as much as relieved at the confession.

“That certainly makes me feel better, but I think I’d rather be there than face my sisters,” he admits as he goes back to wringing his hands again. Jeno takes notice of the motion, almost looking annoyed at it. Renjun gasps as the boy reaches out and takes his hands in his own. His own palms burn against the ice cold skin of the other. He almost protests, his own proposed guidelines on the tip of his tongue, but he is distracted by Jeno’s smooth skin and his eyes that shine like polished marble.

“It will be fine. Just trust me.” He says it with so much confidence that Renjun actually manages to convince himself to believe him. Jeno decidedly doesn’t release one of his hands as they inch closer and closer to his sisters awaiting them.

His heart is still banging restlessly against his ribcage like a bird trying to escape confines and he’s pretty sure he could hurl everywhere any moment now, but he suppresses it all down deep. His mind is peacefully blank once he sees his sisters awaiting, chattering amongst themselves.

“This is Jeno,” he gestures to the boy and smiles. “He’s my boyfriend.” The sisters turn silent at once. All that can be heard is the crowing of a raven in the distance and a rustle of leaves.

They had all been seated around on logs and the ground in some sort of oblong shape facing each other. They were loud and laughing, entertaining each other. Renjun had gave them prior warning that he would be introducing someone to them for once and that he had wanted all seven sisters to be present. He is both pleased and terrified that they had all pulled through. Renjun’s eyes flit over each of their faces to gauge their reactions.

Sooyoung chokes a little, then spits out her wine. “A _human_?”

“A goth human?” Jungeun questions.

“Are we gonna kill him?” he hears Yerim whisper loudly to Hyunjin. She gets a hesitant shrug back.

“He’s not a human. Jeno is a cambion,” he adds on quickly, trying not to break out into nervous laughter at all of his sister’s expressions morphing from confused to horrified. He looks at Jeno, an easy smile resting on his handsome face.

“Renjun, a word?” Sooyoung says once she’s gotten her wits back, standing from her seat. Renjun’s smile slackens slightly, his hands becoming clammy in an instant. He feels Jeno’s hand give his own a squeeze and he looks over to see him giving him an uncharacteristically sweet grin. Was that an act too?

“Go on,” Jeno says gently, letting go of his hand and nodding towards his sister waiting at the entrance of their tree. Renjun immediately misses the comfort of Jeno’s fingers around his and he lets that thought distract him from his imminent scolding. He also attempts to swat away his subconscious telling him Jeno was only acting this way because he was asked to when in front of his sisters.

“Are you out of your mind?” Sooyoung asks him as soon as they’re within the confines of the hollowed trunk. Renjun squirms under her stare, but keeps his frown.

“What do you mean?” he insists, eyes meeting everything but her eyes.

“You brought home a spawn of a succubus, Renjun.”

“Don’t say it like that. He has a name you know. It’s Jeno. And he’s very sweet,” he grumbles.

Sooyoung scoffs. “Of course he’s sweet, that’s his job! Honestly, I think I would have preferred you bringing home a human.” Renjun winces at the statement, but stands his ground.

“Don’t talk about him like that, he’s my boyfriend!”

“He’s a demon!” Renjun rolls his eyes at the angry outburst. His own anger bubbles up within him. He takes a deep breath to keep it at bay knowing the bark of their tree wasn’t exactly soundproofed for a screaming match.

“You don’t even know him. Besides, you’re all pestering me about finding a boyfriend constantly and now that I have you’re yelling at me?”

“We do want you to find love, but this,” she gestures towards the outside, “Isn’t what we expected from you. He’s got literal hellfire running through his veins, Renjun. He’s dangerous.”

“Can you at least give him a chance?” he pleads in desperation. Her eyes soften at the sincerity of his request. “Don’t you trust me? My judgement?”

“Oh, honey, is he why none of your blind dates were working out?” she asks softly, extending an arm to pat his head. “You should’ve told us earlier, Jun. We wouldn’t have continued if you had.” Her words feel hollow, but he accepts them.

He hesitates before responding. “I… wasn’t sure how you would take it.” It surprises him how easily lying came.

“I’m sorry I blew up at you like that,” she sighs. Renjun understands how hard it is for her to apologize. Heart touched, he smiles and leans in for a hug. “Since it’s important to you, I’ll try my best.”

Renjun doesn’t respond, the hug spoke volumes already. Besides, he had never received an apology as sincere as this from Sooyoung before. He wasn’t sure of what to say.

As of now, he’s much more interested in knowing what Jeno was up to alone with his other sisters.

They exit the tree together and are greeted with Jinsol’s sharp laughter.

“You are too charming, Jeno, I just might have to keep you,” she giggles, waving a hand at the cambion who is now sitting next to Yerim on a nurse log and smiling brightly. His eyes are positively gleaming in the glow of the sunset beyond them.

Renjun is stuck in the limbo between laughter and screaming. He does neither and instead sits on the ground where he stands and stares on, not knowing how to break into the interactions unfurling before him. Not that he would want to—all seemed to be going well.

“I would have to remind you, I belong to another.” Jeno has taken notice of Renjun’s presence, even without directly facing him from where he was sitting. He cranes his long neck back to look at Renjun and smirks.

“Oh yes, of course,” Jinsol says sounding much more misleading in her inflections than usual. She too takes a glance at Renjun and smiles more to herself than to him.

“Can you remind me how you two met?” It’s Jungeun that speaks this time, her smooth voice sounding disinterested, but her typical straight posture being hunched into a slouch towards Jeno tells a different story.

The two boys both blank. They had completely forgotten about a backstory for their relationship.

“We met through Donghyuck.” Jeno answers suavely. He’s not lying.

“Oh.” Jungeun seems dissatisfied by the simple and brief answer, but she doesn’t press them about it.

The evening goes along surprisingly well. They have dinner together near the banks of the river. Jeno pulls out all the stops that Renjun had no idea he even had. He jokes and banters and charms each and every one of his sisters. To say Renjun was shocked was an understatement.

It was almost admirable how well adjusted Jeno seemed to be towards each contrasting personality of his sisters. Renjun feels something ugly brew in the depths of his chest as he watches the cambion interact with them. They’re sitting relatively distant from each other, Jeno choosing to place himself next to Kahei and Chaewon as Renjun sat across from them. He tries to push the feeling down, telling himself it was good Jeno was getting along with his sisters. Not that it had to include completely ignoring him in the process, but he _was_ grateful. He just wished Jinsol would stop giggling at everything he said or maybe if Chaewon would stop playfully shoving at him. Renjun grumbles and picks at the food on his plate.

As the sun dips into the horizon, the evening draws to a close and reluctantly, his sisters big farewell to their newfound friend. Renjun is overjoyed that the night has drawn to a close.

The sisters all stand at the edge of the forest, behind Renjun and Jeno to give them privacy, but it was obvious they were paying close attention to the two of them.

“I’ll be going now,” Jeno says mainly to Renjun, but he cranes his head to look over Renjun’s shoulder and wave at his sisters with another shining grin.

“Thanks for coming, Jeno. It was such a pleasure. Renjun bring your friend over more often!” Sooyoung says quickly before shooing them away.

“Friend?” Renjun blurts out. “What do you mean?”

“It’s obvious there was nothing between you two I should’ve been concerned about. Anyways, get home safe, Jeno!”

\+ +

Renjun has a lot of time to think about Sooyoung’s words. Exactly 72 hours to let it brew around in his brain and angrily in his stomach. What did she mean by that? He had told her they were dating. Had she seen through his lie?

Jeno meets him at his tree on the 73rd hour and Renjun storms away as soon as he sees him. When he sees Jeno isn’t following, he waves a hand at him.

As soon as they reach a clearing Renjun’s sure is far enough so that his sister’s won’t hear his shouting he stops walking, Jeno nearly running into his back. Renjun watches as he calmly slumps down against the base of a tree and looks up at him expectantly.

“I can’t believe this,” Renjun starts angrily. “They didn’t believe me for one second.” He makes a show to kick some of the forest duff up as he says it.

Jeno scoffs a little at his tantrum. “Of course not. We aren’t convincing in the slightest.”

“We walked up to them hand in hand! I told them you were my boyfriend and then argued with Sooyoung because of it!”

“You can hold hands with anyone and claim anything. Words are words. Maybe if you didn’t refuse me touching you ever, it would be a different story. They want more, Renjun.” Jeno’s eyes bear into his as he speaks.

“You were the one completely disregarding my presence!”

“Your rules told me I couldn’t touch you and that I had to play nice with your sisters. Those were your requests.”

“I didn’t think it would turn out this way.”

“It wouldn’t have if you let me…” Jeno trails off. Renjun doesn’t have to hear the rest to know what direction he’s headed.

“But the rules…” he urged sheepishly.

“Yeah, yeah, the rules. I’m perfectly happy going along with them and not convincing your sisters of anything as long as I get my potions for free.”

“What do you propose we do to convince them then, smart one?” he asks, slumping down next to Jeno on the forest floor.

Renjun knows he’s made a mistake in asking when he sees a glint in the cambion’s eye. Jeno leans ever so close, cool breath fanning over Renjun’s face as he speaks.

“Forget the rules,” he murmurs just before leaning back and cracking another smug smile. Renjun sits there frozen before he acts like the motion didn’t send shivers up his spine and his heart ablaze. He resorts to scooting more to the right and glaring at the boy.

“Contradictory to what you’ve just said about your potions, but I’ll overlook it. Any other ideas? Good ones, preferably.”

“Come on, princess, won’t you allow me just one taste?” Jeno insisted. The nymph shivers again at the pet name. Although he thought it was slightly demeaning, especially because he knew many princesses whom of which were all fantastic and nothing like the stereotypes perpetuated, he couldn’t help but flush. The words were eerily similar to what the grimy men at the market had been spewing, but somehow out of Jeno’s mouth it didn’t seem all that unappealing.

“And what if I did? What does that change about this situation?”

“Plenty, if you allowed me to do it right.”

Renjun’s the one to scoff this time. “I fear what you’re implying. I made that rule for a reason.”

“I’m being genuine. I would like to help you.” Renjun is stunned at the sincerity of his voice then. He makes the mistake of turning his head and locking eyes with Jeno again. They shine like before. They’re a deep brown, but he swears he sees flecks of red dancing throughout his irises. They entrance him, bringing him closer and closer without his mind’s permission. The last of his resolve struggles to reason with his body, but soon it crumbles away.

Renjun is closer now, nearly as close as Jeno was just before. He’s close enough to count his eyelashes. He’s close enough to see deeply into the demon’s eyes, to see the red in them swirling and sparkling like hidden rubies. He’s close enough to lean up and connect their mouths, which is what his foggy brain happens to believe as the only thing he should be doing in that moment.

“Alright,” Renjun purrs. His body draws nearer to the other boy, his skin feeling like fire as it chases the coolness Jeno radiates.

Their noses nearly touch.

“Can I?” Jeno asks tentatively, his tone softer than usual, as if he was actually nervous. Renjun doesn’t respond—instead he surprises himself by leaning in first and takes Jeno’s lips in his own. His eyes flutter shut, breaking his eye contact with Jeno, but not breaking the spell they had set him under.

Renjun sighs in to the kiss, feeling bliss at his temptations finally being met. Electricity runs down his spine as their lips pressed together languidly, giving him chills. It is unlike anything he has ever experienced. He’s kissed his fair share, from pixies to pirates—heck, he had made out with a merman prince just weeks prior, but nothing had ever set his body ablaze like this.

He starts slow, kissing him soft like Renjun was something to be savoured and cherished.

Jeno tastes sweet and minty, tingling on his lips. Renjun whimpers as Jeno kisses back harder, finally licking into his mouth. He is pliant and parts his lips for him. His heart pounds harder and faster. His hands grasp onto Jeno’s shirt on their own. His mind goes off like a switch into a feverlike overdrive. Renjun suddenly can’t get enough of Jeno’s cooling hands on his burning neck and jaw or his soft mouth pressing gently yet incessantly over his own. He places his own hand on Jeno’s nape gripping at his hair. He gasps softly when Jeno finally separates after minutes leaving him panting.

“How was that? Okay?” Jeno asks in a whisper, breath ghosting over Renjun’s lips and voice without its usual edge. Renjun nods his head slightly. He takes another look at those shining ruby eyes before leaning back in in a daze. Jeno meets him halfway.

Renjun kisses him like he’s hungry, all open mouthed. Jeno’s the one to pull away the second time too, this time to press his mouth gently against where Renjun’s jaw connects his neck. He places his lips there and sucks harshly. Jeno’s enamored by the way his skin blooms in red with every kiss. Renjun starts to think he wanted this more than himself.

“Jeno,” Renjun drawls out lowly. He squeaks when Jeno’s hands go to his waist, hoisting him up into Jeno’s lap. Their lips find each other’s again, Renjun’s mind fuzzy and thoughts blaring with Jeno’s name, his scent, and his taste repeatedly. He felt intoxicated. With his arms thrown around Jeno’s shoulders, Renjun kissed until he was out of breath and then kissed some more.

“Slow down,” Jeno breathes out. However, his words don’t match his actions. He leans right back in to kiss another bruise onto Renjun’s collarbone.

“I should bring you back home,” Jeno chuckles against the tender skin of his neck. “Your sisters might skin me alive when they see you.” The cambion leans back to observe his work and the smaller boy whines at the loss of contact.

Blotchy hickeys paint Renjun’s neck, his lips are swollen, and his usually twinkling eyes are hooded and hazy. Jeno presses a thumb to the swell of Renjun’s bottom lip and smirks. “Oh, yeah. I’m dead meat.”

The nymph has to take a minute to breathe and to calm his brain down enough to process words.

“At least they’ll definitely believe us now,” Renjun stammers. He untangles himself from Jeno’s arms around his waist and climbs out of his lap less than gracefully, head still spinning. He clears his throat to recenter himself. He hadn’t known what had taken over him—his own instinct or the persuasion in the cambion’s demon eyes. Whatever it was, it lingered in his body, in his blood. The nymph felt a flush over his entire body, warm and halfway to being uncomfortable.

He sneaks another look back at Jeno simply because he can’t resist it. The other boy looks almost as wrecked as Renjun feels. His hair’s disheveled from Renjun’s hands and his lips are swollen. His eyes look even more deep, and even more red. Somehow, Renjun feels pride swell up within him. Despite looking a little ruined, the boy also looks charged and buzzing with energy, like a simple touch would shock you. He can’t tell if Jeno’s pupils are blown because they just made out for a solid however many minutes or because of something else. All Renjun knew was that he was already missing the feeling of Jeno’s mouth and that that would not be the last time he felt them.

The walk home feels like something akin to the Walk of Shame, the worst part being Jeno walking right alongside him. He takes that thought back—the worst part was the fact that he was walking home instead of kissing Jeno into the trunk of the next tree they pass.

He craves touch, so bravely he reaches a hand out into the short distance between them and locks his pinky finger with Jeno’s. The latter doesn’t seem to mind. He plays it off in his own head as wanting his lie to his sisters to be believable.

The second he approaches the unofficial border into nymph territory, Yerim appears in front of him from above, stray leaves stuck in her hair.

“Where were you? Welcome ba—oh,” she starts before realizing the state in which her brother’s neck was in. Her expression turns from shocked to smug as Renjun’s own face grows flustered.

“Looks like Jungeun and Jinsol both owe me 50,” she crows before leaping away. “Glad you had a good time!”

Jeno and he look at each other, both sporting amused smiles. Renjun nearly leaps into the air.

“They believe us! Goodbye mermaid breath!” he bursts, throwing his arms around Jeno and hopping around happily.

“I don’t know what that means, but I’m glad,” Jeno smiles and Renjun’s heart rate spikes again.

“Thank you,” Renjun expresses gratefully, his cheeks red, matching his still flushed neck.

“Any time,” Jeno whispers and waltzes away.

As it turns out, “any time” turns into every time. They had agreed to meet at least once a week, Jeno showing up at their part of the forest to take Renjun on fake dates which were more often than not just them retreating to some hidden pocket of the forest and kissing until the sun set. There really wasn’t much else Renjun wanted to do with the other boy. It was like every time he saw him, he was put in a trance and suddenly their mouths were connected. He blames it on Jeno’s cambion powers of seduction, unwilling to believe it was anything other than that. But Jeno kisses him back with just as much fervor, only making it harder for Renjun to resist. Once a week turned quickly into every other day.

Sometimes it was different though. Sometimes it was Jeno showing up and one of his sisters getting to him first and whisking him away to hang out with them because “Jeno’s so cool,” or “Jeno’s so funny,” and Renjun’s least favorite: “Jeno’s so handsome.” However, he’s a bit more smug nowadays knowing his sisters would never get to know Jeno like he did. They would not know his touch, the feeling of his smooth, cold hands along their side and down their jaw, grasping their hair. They would not know his taste, sweet like candy and oh so addicting. It’s something he would always have over them.

It’s another fake date with Jeno this time. Renjun complains it’s been too long since he’s had a dip in the river, so Jeno obliges to whatever he wants—he always does. Renjun can’t help but wonder if Jeno enjoyed their time together as much as he did. He just hoped he was still getting potions from Donghyuck.

They had both stripped down to undergarments and dove into the refreshing water of the river, splashing each other and floating blissfully near the banks. As soon as they’re tired, Renjun drags him out to lay in the grass to dry off. They talk for hours on end about anything and everything. Renjun gives Jeno updates on his sisters’ lives despite him already knowing most of it anyway from always being around. Jeno tells him everything he wants to know about the Underworld. As the sky darkened, the two dressed and said their farewells, but not before their lips met under the stirring stars.

Sooyoung catches him in a good mood that night, his legs swinging happily from the branch as he hums to the stars just above him. She climbs up to a branch lower to him and leans against the trunk.

“I see someone’s happy,” she sings with a sly smile.

Renjun flushes. “I was just with Jeno.” Even though he knows all his sisters know where he’s been, he still feels bashful admitting it.

“You know, Jeno’s not too bad. Unlike the rest of those grimy cambions. That’s not to say he’ll be like this forever though,” she says in disdain. Renjun flinches at her words. His stomach drops.

“They’re not as bad as we make them out to be,” he argues quietly. He doesn’t have to look down at her to tell that his sister was appalled.

“You don’t know anything, brother. Those guys make me sick. They want nothing but sex and to drain innocent boys like you bone dry of life force.” Renjun’s heart starts to pound, overcome with anger and despair.

“But Jeno…” he trails off. His sisters had been so receptive to him, he didn’t know where all of this hostility was coming from.

“They’re all the same, Renjun. He’s brainwashing you. You’re being played like a card. They’re all vile, perverted creatures. God played no part in creating them. I can tell you now, this fling won’t last,” her voice is seemingly more gentle with her last sentence, perhaps in an attempt to comfort the visibly shaken boy. It’s almost funny to him how much effort she puts into making sure he’s alright when spewing such terrible things.

Renjun is visibly shaking now. His mind swirls with split decisions. He could defend Jeno, tell Sooyoung she’s wrong, that they’re not all the same and that he believes in his feelings for the other boy. But he knows it’s fake. Whatever he feels for Jeno can never be realized. They were a part of the same ploy and Jeno wouldn’t reciprocate his feelings. So he takes the easiest way out.

Renjun climbs down from the branch after taking a deep breath. Sooyoung follows and they stand on the forest floor facing one another, her face urging him to say something—the right thing.

His next words kill him to say, but he knows he could never deny her. “I know, sister. I don’t think it will last long either.” His sister pulls him close for a hug that feels cold, colder than Jeno and he finds himself longing for the boy, no matter how guilty he felt.

“I have to go now. You are so good, Renjun. I don’t want you getting hurt by someone of _his_ nature. He can’t make you happy forever. Don’t be fooled.” Sooyoung smiles in that motherly way of hers. Renjun doesn’t feel any warmth from it.

As Sooyoung prances off, Renjun’s eyes drifts towards movement behind a nearby oak. He gasps when someone reveals themselves from behind it.

Jeno stands there, head down, one of his hands tightly wound in a fist by his side, holding Renjun’s bracelet. He must’ve forgotten it at the river.

“Jeno,” he says breathless. “Wh-what are you doing here?” It’s a question he already knows the answer to.

Renjun watches as Jeno’s head slowly lifts up to meet his gaze. He’s helpless as Jeno’s eyes flare with anger and perhaps despair.

“How could you let her say those things? How could you agree to them so easily?” Jeno asks in a whisper. He shakes his head before looking straight at Renjun. His eyes are dancing with color, fiery reds melding with his usual brown. It would be beautiful under any other conditions, but now they only make Renjun’s heart ring with pain. There is no excuse he could make. _If I knew he was there I would’ve… I would have…_ He can’t come to a conclusion.

“I knew you nymphs were no-good liars. You don’t have hearts. All you do is seduce men and leave them for dead. You call us the monsters, when really it’s you,” he spits. Renjun can’t keep the hurt from reaching his face. Jeno’s words stung deep within, but he didn’t even have the means to argue back, knowing the pain was well deserved.

“Jeno, please. I didn’t mean it, you know I didn’t,” Renjun pleads.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore! Maybe she was right,” he shouts before storming off, leaving Renjun alone in the middle of the forest—a place where he once known as his home, but now he felt more lost than he’s ever felt before.

Renjun laughs angrily at the tears that start streaming down his face. He laughs harder when the sky opens up above him, the leaves of the trees doing little to stop the downpour from falling on him. He hadn’t seen the rain clouds against the black sky. He hadn’t anticipated the storm. He thinks about how easy it was for the clouds to cover up the aligned stars. All he can see up there is black.

He cursed his sisters for being so hateful. He cursed Donghyuck for introducing him to Jeno and the idea of a fake relationship. Mostly, he cursed his own name for feeling sorry for himself when he had just hurt Jeno in a way he can’t even imagine.

\+ +

Spring is supposed to bring new things. The season means flowers blooming, bees pollinating, and love flourishing. Renjun only finds two of these things to be true.

He spends his days without Jeno drifting through the forest aimlessly, hours down familiar paths he used to love. Renjun can watch as the butterflies dance from flower to flower, but he can’t see to find the joy in it that he used to. His guilt keeps him from enjoying much of anything. His mood doesn’t seem to affect his sisters. They’ve barely even noticed his lack of enthusiasm. If anything, they’ve become more focused on the sudden absence of his supposed boyfriend than the absence of his smile.

Sooyoung’s the first to comment on it, just as Renjun had predicted. It happens a week after the talk—her warning.

“You must’ve really taken my words to heart,” she comments as she sits down on the nurse log near their tree he was occupying. He was draped over on his stomach it like a bed of moss. She reaches down to pet at his golden hair, picking out random leaves and twigs as she strokes. He hadn’t cared too much about his appearance since their downfall. He was nearing his breaking point.

“You’re taking it much harder than I thought you would though.”

“You were wrong, Sooyoung,” he mumbles, barely audible.

“Hm?” He can’t tell if she didn’t hear him or if she is questioning his words themselves.

“You were wrong. You _are_ wrong,” he says again, a little louder.

“What are you talking about?”

“Jeno’s not anything you said.” Her gentle hand is halted.

“Renjun, we’ve been over this. And you certainly can’t think that when you’ve taken my advice,” she refutes.

“And it was a mistake!” he bursts out, sitting up and looking her in the eyes through his own glassy ones. He’s gone through this many times in his head. He had imagined confronting her, telling her off and running off to Jeno and taking his hand and never looking back. He had every word engraved in his mind, festering. But as he looks at her, they stick to the back of his throat and he chokes on him, sobbing. Sooyoung looks at him in shock and pity.

“I love him, Sooyoung. And you took that away from me,” he lets out shakily. “You say he brainwashes people, but you. You were the one trying to brainwash me all along.”

“I do it to protect you. We all do,” she whispers. Her words feel unsure, like she was plotting each syllable with precision.

“You didn’t care about my happiness. None of you did. You were selfish,” Renjun says sternly, rising from the nurse log and staring down at Sooyoung’s frowning face. It is riddled with sadness and most of all, guilt.

“I didn’t know it was hurting you this much,” she tries. “I’m sorry Renjun. I’m sorry for being a bad sister. I’m sorry for hurting you.” She is sincere, Renjun knows this. Despite all they do to him, he knows deep down they care for him.

“Renjun, we do want you to be happy. We just didn’t want you to be hurt in the process of getting there. And my fears blinded me and I ended up getting in the way of your happiness. You know I’ve had a bad experience with a cambion before,” she recalls wistfully. “He was kind and charming and sweet and beautiful and everything I never knew I wanted. But he was not like Jeno.” Her words grow shaky.

“There are cruel, cruel people in this world. I had to keep my guard up so you would not have to suffer. But I see how he looks at you. It is not with eyes of lust, he does not cast spells on you. I’m sorry I’ve gotten in your way.” She takes his hands in hers and squeezes them tightly.

“I am not against you pursuing him. Tell him I am sorry, and that you have my blessing, all of ours,” she says softly. Renjun’s eyes have flooded with tears once again. Sooyoung has known great pain, has felt it and endured it. His heart aches for her. But he thanks her and leaves, heading for the one place he knows he can ask for help.

\+ +

Renun brings a tentative hand up to the thin door, hesitating before he knocked. It’s Lucas again.

“Haven’t seen you around in a while,” he greets with a wide grin as he moves aside to let him in.

“Why are you always in this form nowadays?” Renjun diverts. He was actually starting to miss the little black cat.

“It’s easier to pick things up. Like the catnip on the top shelf. And I knew you weren’t an ailuran eating hunter. I can tell from your footsteps,” he observes with a shrug.

“How do you know I won’t eat you?” he jokes.

“Stop making weirdly sexual threats at my familiar, please,” Donghyuck pipes up from the kitchen. They both gravitate towards him and plant themselves at the table like usual.

“What are you doing here? Haven’t heard from you since I introduced you to Jeno. And since you really ever come over to rant about badly executed blind dates, I assumed you were all set.”

“About that…” Renjun feels a wave of sadness and guilt come over him again. Lucas seems to sense his shift in aura and pushes an already opened package of cookies across the short length of the table over to him. He rejects the offer gently.

“Did something happen? How did your sisters react? You know, Jeno came in like last week and he seemed a little more grungy and dark than he usually is. Like super dark circles and messy hair and the whole shabang,” Donghyuck tells, leaning back against the counter. “I asked him how things were—how you were—and he just growled at me. I figured it was a weird cambion thing and maybe it was going well?”

“Jeno hates me,” Renjun bursts out in anguish. Donghyuck startles and drops his wooden spoon again. Renjun rests in head in his arms and sobs.

“Oh no,” Donghyuck mutters as he carries over to the boy and places a comforting hand on his back.

“Don’t console me—I don’t deserve it,” Renjun wails, it coming out muffled.

“What could you possibly have done?” Donghyuck questions cautiously. Renjun lifts his head slightly to look up at Donghyuck through teary eyes. He suggests that the other boy pull up a chair and takes a deep breath before telling the story of his downfall.

He starts from the beginning, from when he first chased Jeno out the front door of his cottage and struck up a deal with him. He recalls their second meeting, their day at the plaza and how Jeno had protected him and even bought him a souvenir. The results of their first meeting with his sisters has Donghyuck pulling at his own hair. He even spills about their first kiss and all the ones after to which Lucas completely gushes and melts into his chair. Renjun gives him an embarrassed shove before his expression visibly darkens again.

“He came by a lot after that under the pretense of wooing my sisters so that they really would stay off my back for a while but,” he stops, frowning. “One day he walked me home and I guess after he turned and left, he came back to give me my bracelet I had forgotten. And he heard Sooyoung bad mouthing cambions.” Donghyuck and Lucas both gasp.

“She said… vile things about them. And I just—God, I’m so stupid,” he cries, fresh tears coming down his face again.

“It’s okay Renjun, it’s not your fault. You don’t control what your sisters say and believe,” Lucas assures lightly.

“You don’t understand. He heard me agree with her,” Renjun admits with his head hanging. The two boys in front of him share a empathetic look.

“You didn’t mean it though. He knows that, right?” Donghyuck tries. “You told him that?”

Renjun shakes his head. “He stormed off after cursing us out. Said we were all no-good monsters with no hearts. Who knows what else he really thinks?” he sniffles.

“Hey, hey. I know one thing for sure. He doesn't hate you. And he definitely doesn’t think that of you,” Donghyuck insists.

“But you weren’t there, Hyuck. You didn’t see the anger in his eyes. You didn’t hear how he said it.”

“I may have not been there to witness the downfall, but I can definitely rummage through the aftermath. And honestly, you both look like shit without one another. Jeno seemed genuinely happy before this. Just be honest with him. Tell him everything you just told me and Lucas. There’s something special there when you talk about him,” Donghyuck says with a warm smile and a hand on Renjun’s shoulder. Donghyuck tells him what he already knew—he definitely had feelings for the boy.

In theory, the suggested solution from Donghyuck seems simple—just sit the other down and talk it out like reasonable people with functioning frontal lobes. But this wasn’t that easy. Renjun and Donghyuck both knew that. There was no way an angry half-demon would be willing to communicate with someone that had done him wrong.

“I have a plan. I’m not certain it will work, but are you willing to try it?” Donghyuck offers. Renjun gives him the best smile he can muster and nods. Lucas erupts from the other side of the table, shocking the other two who have forgotten about his presence.

“Let’s get you your fake boyfriend back!”

\+ +

It’s a familiar scene. The curtains tease the early morning sunlight, choosing only a select few rays to let shine through into the kitchen. The faucet has yet to be fixed, still stubbornly leaking large droplets of water every few seconds. The mice living in the walls have efficiently stolen half of the crackers from the cabinet and the bottles on the shelf are just as messy and colorful as always.

Renjun sits amid it all at Donghyuck’s table. Although mornings are peaceful to him, today Renjun fidgets anxiously in his seat. Jeno should be arriving any moment now to retrieve his week’s worth of potion. Donghyuck had left the premises with Lucas a while ago to gather ingredients for some other project he was working on. Renjun’s heart swelled knowing he had woken himself up early just so Renjun could do this on his own—he needed to.

His heart nearly stops when he hears a soft knock on the door.

“Donghyuck?” a familiar voice calls out after a moment of silence. Renjun stands, but his feet stay planted on the splintered floorboards. He’s scared and nervous and halfway to shaking where he stands.

Suddenly, the door opens and he hears a tentative yet heavy footstep. He still can’t see Jeno from behind the open door. His pulse quickens. he hears Jeno sigh and step into view, finally.

When Jeno spots him standing there his expression is first flooded with confusion, then anger. His dark eyes seem even darker and colder than usual.

“What are _you_ doing here?” Jeno snarls. Renjun’s heart sinks at his hostility. He only knew his slyness, his kindness. Perhaps Renjun was spoiled in that sense. He deserves the sting.

“I just wanted to talk,” he mumbles, wringing his hands. Jeno takes notice of the action and for a fleeting moment he wants to reach out to his nervous hands.

“I don’t have anything to say to you. Besides, why would you want to talk to a dirty demon like me anyway? Shouldn’t you be back with your sisters—"

“I’m sorry,” he interrupts, taking a stand. Jeno’s taken by surprise.

“I’m sorry Jeno,” he repeats softly. Jeno is frowning, unsure whether to allow himself to be swayed by his words. “Sooyoung is sorry too. She doesn’t mean it—any of it. I don’t either. You are a cambion, but that doesn’t mean you’re bad.” Renjun watches as Jeno takes a shaky inhale.

“That’s not what I heard before,” he spits out.

“I know, I’m not deserving of your trust. I just wanted you to know that I don’t think those things about you. You are anything but vile—you are sweet and gentle and caring. Your heart is big and I can’t tell you how sorry I am for hurting you when you put your faith in me.” Jeno’s anger is dissolved with every word as he stares into the warm brown eyes of the boy pouring his heart out before him.

“I… am not as kind as you make me out to be. But it means a lot hearing how you see me,” Jeno says slowly. “I’m guilty of seducing you.” His eyes flit down towards the ground in shame. Renjun’s face is unreadable.

“My instincts—I wanted to taste you since I first laid eyes on you. It was wrong, but then you needed my help, and you had those rules, and I had to get around that for you to keep me around,” he rambles on. Renjun steps closer to him, ending his rant and forcing him to look at him again. “Then it kept happening. You would look so happy to see me even without me using my powers and it made me happy too. I had never felt that warm or trusted with someone before. I was so angry when I overheard you. It made me feel worthless, like people only did want me when I was putting them under a spell.”

“I love you, Jeno,” Renjun blurts out impulsively. He takes a deep breath before continuing. “All of you. Your stupid smirking face and your slicked back hair and your possessiveness and your good heart and your gentle words and how much you care about the image other people have of your people no matter how much you say you don’t. I love all of that, no spell required. Just you. Genuinely. I can never apologize enough for the turmoil I’ve put you through.”

Renjun watches Jeno’s expression shift. He watches Jeno as he closes the distance between them and his hands as they reach towards his own.

“I forgive you.”

And they are the only words that he says before he leans down to kiss away the tears that have started running down the nymph’s cheeks.

\+ +

They lay on the edges of a meadow, Renjun under the sun and Jeno with half his body in the shade of a tree. Renjun’s head rests on Jeno’s chest, listening to his heart thrum happily. Their hands are intertwined and things are peaceful. The world spins around them. Cotton clouds glide along the sky. The tweeting birds carry on with their days feeding their nests of chirping babies and the grass sways in the gentle breeze. Spring is nearly its end, summer chasing after it excitedly.

Renjun thinks back to earlier that day when Yerim and Jiwoo had run around excitedly exclaiming their excitement for the season changes. Everything was happier back home. Sooyoung had even started inviting Jeno over more often. She had also stubbornly said it was because the sun was putting her a generous mood, but Renjun knew better.

“It’s a suppressant, by the way,” Jeno says offhandedly. Renjun smiles up at him in confusion. “The potion. It keeps the demonic-soul-sucking urges down. And also tastes like cherry cola. I have to drink a cup a day.”

“Is that why you taste so sweet?” Renjun wonders aloud. The tips of his pointed ears warm up when he realizes what he’s asked.

“You tell me,” Jeno encourages before leaning down to claim Renjun’s lips.

For the record—he did taste very sweet, but Renjun has a feeling it doesn't have much to do with the potion.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> whew!!! this was my first full fic for an nct ship hehe so thanks for reading ;; i’ve never written anything like this before or ever joined a fic fest and it was so fun :’) make sure you check out all of the other works for the fest too!! 
> 
> feel free to leave kudos or comments!! it would be majorly appreciated!! see you on the flip side. 
> 
> also please bother me on [cc](https://curiouscat.me/guanhengs) and [twt](https://twitter.com/renhyuks)


End file.
